Diabetes mellitus is a disorder in which the pancreas cannot create sufficient insulin (Type I or insulin dependent) and/or in which insulin is not effective (Type 2 or non-insulin dependent). In the diabetic state, the victim suffers from high blood sugar, which may cause an array of physiological derangements (for example, kidney failure, skin ulcers, or bleeding into the vitreous of the eye) associated with the deterioration of small blood vessels. A hypoglycemic reaction (low blood sugar) may be induced by an inadvertent overdose of insulin, or after a normal dose of insulin or glucose-lowering agent accompanied by extraordinary exercise or insufficient food intake.
Conventionally, a person with diabetes carries a self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) monitor, which typically requires uncomfortable finger pricking methods. Due to the lack of comfort and convenience, a person with diabetes will normally only measure his or her glucose levels two to four times per day. Unfortunately, these time intervals are so far apart that the person with diabetes will likely find out too late about hyper- or hypo-glycemic conditions. In fact, it is not only unlikely that a person with diabetes will take a timely SMBG value, it is likely that the person with diabetes will not know if their blood glucose value is going up (higher) or down (lower) based on conventional methods. Thus, their ability to make educated insulin therapy decisions is inhibited.
Some attempts have been made to continuously measure the glucose concentration in a person with diabetes. More frequent measurements can allow the person with diabetes to know of essentially current blood sugar conditions and to make appropriate decisions in response to the current conditions. However, these continuous glucose sensors typically use methods of displaying measurement data which is uninteresting to the person with diabetes. This is especially the case when the person with diabetes is young. Pediatric persons with diabetes often do not understand, forget about, or intentionally ignore the data displayed from their continuously measured glucose monitor. Accordingly, people with diabetes experience blood sugar excursions which may have been avoided had they been more diligently interacting with their sensor system.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improvements in displaying data from continuous glucose sensors in order to better entice the person with diabetes, such as pediatric patients, to use and interact with their monitor system.